CHAPTER XIII

A FEW WORDS ON DYEING

The art of dyeing has been of interest to the peoples of all nations and in all ages. History shows us that just so soon as man’s covering or clothing, the furs and skins of animals, was discarded for wool, linen or cotton materials, just so soon was the desire or want for colors made manifest. Man began the study of coloring, of staining and dyeing; he experimented, and in his new need he worked to reproduce the reds, the purples, the blues and the yellows of nature’s exquisite canvas, with what success and failure we have a fair knowledge.

Nothing appeared too small or too unimportant to put in use in order to gain the desired results. Vegetables, fruits, plants, barks of trees and sometimes ludicrous mixtures were part of the workings for this purpose, all of which did meet with rewards——for dyes and beautiful colors were discovered.

From the plant _indigoferae_ was obtained a blue stain, known as indigo. Specimens of dyeing found in the Egyptian tombs show examples of indigo dye. This plant (_indigoferae_) grows and is industriously and profitably cultivated in South America and India. It was imported by the Romans from India, getting its name from that country. Two other important dyestuffs discovered in the early ages were saffron, which gives yellow shades, and madder-root, or to be more specific, the roots of madder, which produces brown and purple shades.

Thus was obtained and supplied the blue dye from vegetable or plant life; and from animal life came the most beautiful red dyes.

Cochineal, lac and kermes better known as “grain colors” and called so because of their general resemblance to grain, are really the dried bodies of insects, minute in size, called “cocci” berries, which lived and thrived on certain kinds of bushes and trees and which, after months of care, were taken from their berths and dried.

These dyestuffs, used of course with a mordant, produce beautiful shades, which are fast to water and light.

Perhaps no greater nor more remarkable changes have been made in any industry than in that of dyeing, for, the saving of labor, energy, time and money by the use of modern chemical agencies is of a magnitude not easily appreciable. New ways have completely supplanted the old. This revolution was due to the accidental discovery of mauveine by Sir William Henry Perkin, who by this and his later experiments enriched the world with one of its most important discoveries. After his discoveries became known great factories sprang up throughout Europe manufacturing coal-tar dyestuffs, shortly producing the “Basic dyes.” Perkin’s discovery served as a stimulus to other chemists, who, working unceasingly, soon produced quantities of dyestuffs, which are designated as “Aniline Colors.”

Though progress has been made and the discoveries have simplified greatly the processes of dyeing, this does not mean that experimenting has ceased. By no means. Today interested and enthusiastic workers are anxiously and patiently experimenting, and hoping to find something new; perhaps they will, or it may be you, who, through your experimenting, will uncover to the world a new wonderful dyestuff.

In preparing raffia for work, take care to shake it well. You will find that the best and easiest way to make it take the dye will be to soak it over night. If this is not practicable then soak it at least three hours. Dissolve the dye in vinegar——the dye bath should be warm.

The “Basic Colors” will give satisfaction, but I would suggest in cases where a great deal of work is to be done that the fast acid colors be used.

The color work in basketry plays a very important part as well as a fascinating one. There are numerous ways in which a basket or tray may be touched up, giving a charm to it that is most pleasing to the eye and attractive to the craftsman.

The entire basket may be made first, and then either dipped, allowed to stand in the dye a few minutes, or boiled five to thirty minutes; it may be painted with Easy dye, stained with any desirable furniture stain, varnished and waxed up. The basket may be finished off by using either fine sandpaper, or powdered pumice stone, but in finishing colored baskets, it will be found that singeing will be the most successful method.

Again to have a contrasting color with the natural or two tints of the same color, the reed should be dyed first and then the desired effect worked out.

In dyeing reed allow it to soak in a mordant for two hours. This opens the pores and makes the dye a permanent part of the basket. Three ounces of alum to one quart of water makes a good mordant for many vegetable dyes.

Beautiful shades of brown, green, blue and red may be obtained by using logwood, indigo, fustic, cutch, madder, cochineal, and copperas. A very pleasing finish is secured by painting or staining the article with Light Oil Finish, combining it with turpentine in whatever proportion desired. Malachite green stain used with turpentine and Light Oil Finish make a very attractive pale green. The alert basket maker, who desires to experiment, must be on the watch in the autumn for natural dyeing material. The leaves and flowers of plants, the bark of trees, berries, etc., may be used most successfully in obtaining very desirable dye, and with patience and care beautiful and delicate shades may be obtained from vegetable dyes.

The following recipes may be used for vegetable dyeing:

=Brown=

Dissolve two teaspoonfuls of madder in one quart of water. Allow the reed to soak in it five hours.

=Yellow Brown No. 1=

Soak the reed for several hours in logwood extract——obtained by boiling logwood chips in water twenty minutes.

=Yellow Brown No. 2=

Mix in a quart of water two tablespoonfuls of cutch extract, adding one and a half tablespoonfuls of fustic. Boil the reed in this solution for two hours, but test.

=Olive Brown No. 1=

Dissolve two tablespoonfuls of cutch, two tablespoonfuls of fustic, and one-half spoonful of logwood in a quart of water. Boil the reed two hours in this composition.

=Olive Brown No. 2=

Boil the material several hours in a composition of one and one-half pounds of walnut bark, five teaspoonfuls of washing soda and one-half cup of rock alum.

=Yellow No. 1=

A good yellow can be obtained by experimenting with smartweed.

=Yellow No. 2=

Mordant the reed in a solution of alum, and boil it in an extract of fustic, a half hour.

=Green=

Mordant the reed in a solution of alum and water, and then dye it in the solution composition——three teaspoonfuls of indigo, a small crystal of copperas, and three pints of water. After the material is removed and washed dip it in a solution of bark extract and water.

=Olive Green=

Mordant the reed in a solution of two teaspoonfuls of copperas in one quart of water. Boil the reed then in the following solution: To three teaspoonfuls of bark extract in a quart of water, add a half teaspoonful of indigo and a small quantity of logwood.

=Indian Red=

Dissolve in about a quart of boiling water two tablespoonfuls of cutch extract and a small crystal of blue-stone. Boil the material in this solution until the desired color is obtained.

END

TRANSCRIBER’S AMENDMENTS

Transcriber’s Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Some illustrations may have been moved, and the list of illustrations modified accordingly. When the author’s preference can be determined, we have rendered consistent on a per-word-pair basis the hyphenation or spacing of such pairs when repeated in the same grammatical context. The publisher’s inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been corrected. Duplicative book and chapter front matter has been removed.

The following list indicates any additional changes. The page number represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext except for illustrations since they may have been moved.

Page Change

vii 20. HEAVY BORDER 37[69] 42 the nautral[natural] color and then 127 glass should be indentical[identical] in 167 [END]

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